Electrical recording apparatus.



A, L. SOHM.

ELECTRICAL RECORDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1011 1,055,949; Patented Mar. 11, 191:5

4 SHEETSSHEET l.

Wilt 7153366: .[rzvenzfow WMXZMQ A. L. SOHM.

ELECTRICAL RECORDING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATlON FILED MAY Ll. 1M1

1,055,949. Paimted Mar' 11. 1919-;

W 60 ,Q Q/ By Wham A. L. SOHM.

ELECTRICAL RECORDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION TILED MAYI], 1911.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A Witnesses A. L. SOHM.

ELECTRICAL RECORDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1911.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET '1v T liitnesses;

UNITED sTAgas rENT OFFICE.

ALFRED L. SOHM, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SOHM ELECTRIC SIGNAL & RECORDING COMPANY, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA.

ELECTRICAL RECORDING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED L. SoHM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electrical Recording Appara tus, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact de-' scription, reference being hadto the accomthe so-called in and out -registers which are used in large industrial establishments where many workmen are employed. The registration'identifies each particular em ployee and is accompanied by the registration of the time of day. In some instances, the registration is further supplemented by a positive notation as to whether the employee is entering or leaving the premises.

The device of my invention is operated electrically and this is consistent with the important feature thereof that the operating board or entrance plate, as I term it, may be disposed at the workmens entrance to an industrial establishment, while the recording mechanism, per .96, may be disposed in the oilice or some convenient place for the person in charge of the record sheet. The operating board or'entrance plate comprises a number of switches for controlling circuits which include electromagnets for operating the printing mechanism, as'will be described. The electromagnets which are operated to identify the employees, and the directly associated printing mechanism, are the features of my present invention. It is in these respects thatmy present device differs from my former one.

In making a registration, the employee successively operates certain switches on the entrance plate so that the corresponding Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 11, 1911.

Serial No. 626,420.

printing magnets will be operated. Each of these electromagnets is provided with a type bar and, whenlthe electromagnet is energized, the type piece is drawn up against the record sheet quite in the manner of the operation of the typewriter. It will appear that sometimes a particular digit is printed in the units column, by the energization of the corresponding electromagnet, that sometimes it is printed in the tens column, and that sometimes it is printed in the hundreds column. One of the features of my invention is directed toward the means for determining which of these columns the digit is to be printed in. Consistently with the particular means for determining the position of the printed digit, I provide a novel mechanism whereby the type piece is actuated upon the energization of the electromagnet. In my former application, referred to, each type bar was provided with one type and the type bar itself was loosely associated with the electromagnetically oper- I ated mechanism so that independent means could be provided for shifting the bar from side to side so as to direct the type to the proper column. In my present invention, however, the type bar is designed to operate always in the same planeand this is the Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

better mechanical arrangementand means i is provided for shifting a small platen so that any one of three ty e carried by the type bar may be made e ective. The relation between the armature of the electromagnet and the typebar forms the further subject-matter of my invention. By the particular structure which I propose, the type bar is given a sharp hammer blow upon the energization of the electromagnet, the structure being simple and consisting of few parts.

invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the parts particularly involved, parts being removed to clearly reveal the construction; Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 2, which are not shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the electromagnet and the directly associated parts; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the electromagnetic mechanism, showing the movable parts in a difi'erent position from that of Fig. 1; and Eng. G is a dlagrannnatic view showing the enr-re system.

Likereference characters are applied to.

the same parts throughout the various tigures.

Referring first to the structural embodiment of my invention, it will be seen that the various parts are mounted upon a base 10 which, toward one side thereof, is provided with four pillars, 11, 11 which sup port a-shelf carrying the paper advancing mechanism and the directly associated parts. The present invention is concerned with the means for making the particular registration identifying the employee and the description will he therefore confined to this feature.

The various so-called printing electromagnets are mounted vertically upon the base 10.. One of them has been shown in full and the entire arrangement has been indicated by the dotted circle. I shall first describe the detailed construction of these printing electromagnets, referring particularly to Figs. 1, 4 and 5. A base plate 12 is secured to the main base 10 by means of a screw 13 and this supplementary base is provided with the two upward extensions 1st and 15. The base 12 and the extensions are of magnetic material and this magneticcircuit is closed by the armature as will be presently described. The upward extension 14 is in the form of a cylindrical post which carries an energizing winding 16. The upward extension 15 is cylindrical except at the top where it has the flattened sides 17. The armature 18 is mounted upon the post 15, embracing that part of the post which has the flattened sides and being pivoted thereto by means of a pin 19 extending inwardly from a screw Secured in the arma ture. The top of the core L1 is provided with a central. conical portion 20 which is adapted to enter into a correspondingly shaped aperture 21 in the armature 18, when the armature is brought down to the core upon the energization of the electromagnet. The top of the post 15 is bifurcated for the reception of the hub 22, of the type bar 23, which is mounted upon the pivot pin 19. The end of the type bar 23 is provided with a toe 24 which carries thetype piece 25 having'three types 26, 26. The rear end of the armature is provided with'a tail piece 27, extending downwardly therefrom and suitably cut out so as to enibrace the post 15 more or less when the armature is in its raised osition. 'With this arrangement of arts, he type bar 23 can rest down upon the tail piece, as best shown in .Fig; 4, and when the winding 16 is energized, the attraction of the armature 18 will result in the raising of the tail piece 27 and the consequent movement of the type 'bar 23. The

type bar 23 is loosely mounted relative to the pin 19 and it follows that when the armature is suddenly attracted, the transmission of the movement from the tail piece to the type bar will be in'the form of a kick or hammerblow, so that even though the movement of the armature may st0p, by its striking the top of the core 14., the type bar may continue upwardly into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. The shelf or secondary base which the pillars ll, 11 support, is illustrah-d at 27, the forward end of this shelf bung provided with a vertical frame piece, '48 secured thereto by means of screws 29, 25). The framework carries a box 30, into which the type bar is adapted to be thrown, as will be described, and above this box, the vertical frame piece 28 has secured thereto, by means of screws 31, a bracket 32. The under side of this bracket is provided with a clove tail slot in which a slide piece 34 is mounted, as clearly illustrated in Fig. t, this side piece operating from side to side over the box 30 as is evi dent from Fig. 2. A shifting lever 35 is pivoted to the base 10 at 36, passing through suitable opening in the base, and, at its upper end, is pivotally connected, at 37, to the slide piece 34. The upper end of the shifting lever 85 is widened and is bifurcated for the reception of the slide piece 3i between the resulting tangs. Upon its under side, the slide piece 3% is provided with a small platen 38, which is of width approximately equal to the overall width of one of the type on the type bar. As indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, it will be seen, that by the movement of the slid piece 31, the platen 38 is adapted to occupy three positions, such positions being in regular side by side order over the box 30. The shifting lever 35 extends downwardly from its pivot 36 where it is pivolally connected with the os illating armature 39, pivoted at 40 be-" tween two electromagnets 41 and 42, mounted upon a frame piece 43 secured to the un-, The linkages which dcr side of the base. have been described are such that when the armature 39 is in its normal position. the platen 38 will occupy the central position relative. to the printing area in the box 30. The parts-are normally held in this neutral position by means of a pair of leaf springs 44. 44 which extend from a bracket 45 secured; to the framework by'means of a screw 46, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The two springs normally neutralize each other so I mam-94a.

platen as" occupies the left hand position (Fig. 2), and when the; magnet 42 1s energized, it occupies the right hand position. One I of these abnormal positionsis the 5 units position, and the other isthe himdreds position.- The platen normally mains in the te'ns position. -Theupright supporting frame 28 carries .theribbon rolls 4?," 47 andthe" ribbon, passing-from one to the other,::passes over the idlers 48, .48, be-

tween the tags of the bifurcated end of the lever '35, under the sliding piece 34, between the *piaten 38- and the box 30, onto other Lin-a949, 49. The ribbon is supplied -with 5 the reference characters 50 and the aper,

which in this instance travels at rig t an-y erably located on'each side of the printing aneaa; Thebox is flared so as to guide the pant ng piece which carries the type properly into the printin line, thus providin against inaccuracies ue to lost motion an I Mhebending of the type bar. In order that Q th e-Jvaiious bars may clear each other, the base is provided with openings 52, 52 into wh-iohsit ez'lowenehd of the type bars may restzgtas illustrated in Fig. 4. The present "'invsnfion- 'isimot concerned with the means 49 for pizintiiig the time of day and the means for advancing the paper strip so, therefore, the illustration of such parts is omitted. It will be understood. that means are pro- 'vided for these. various purposes and they 45, will 'be taken up in a general way when the entiresystemis described.

I shall now refer to Fig. 6 and describ the operation of my system. The parts car- 'ried' by or with the entrance plate are in- 50 closed in the dottedline in this figure. The other parts, except the. master clock and its associated parts, and thebattery, are parts of the -machine which has'been described in detail; The battery 'can be disposed an v.

where anii so cah the master t clock with its directly controlled elements". The circuit wires of course can be of any length. The circles with the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, ",8 and 9 indicate the various printing maginets 16. The entrance plate-is providedwith three series-of ten switches 'each, one series ocnstitutingthe hundreds column, "the sec ondconstituting.t-he'-:tens column, and .the. third constitutingthe' units' column; "Each' through the main battery B and one of the printing magnets 16. The circuit of each of the printing magnets is adapted to be closed by three switches, one in each column. It

will suflice to give a detailed explanation of the c rcuit of one printing magnet since the stance that one terminal of printing magnet -same applies to all. It will be seen for ing No. 5 is connected with the common return wire 1' which leads to the negative leof the battery B, while the other terminal of this printing magnet is connected with three contacts ii, if and u. Thecontact h is adapt ed to be engaged by the switch level 1. of the hundreds wire w, the contact t is adapted to be engaged by the switch lever l of the tens wire 10' and the contact 14 is adapted to be engaged by the switch lever l of ,the unitswire w. The tens wire w is connected with the positive pole of the battery through the resistance R. The units wire '10 is 'connected, with the positive pole of the battery through the electromagnets 132'which, for convenience, I shall term the impression magnets, and'the unit magnet 42 which has heretofore been described. The hundreds wire 10 is connected with the 'ositive pole of the battery throu h the hundi'eds ma net '41 which has herein fore been referi'e to.

When it is desired to print 5 in .the hundreds column the switchlever l of the hun dreds column is depremed to close the circu-it through the hundreds magnet 41, through the battery B and through the printing magnet No. 5. The energization of the magnet41 will bring the platen 38 over into the hundreds position, as has been described, and the energization'of the printingmagnet No. 5 will cause the'type bar No.

5 to be actuated and, as has been described, this type bar will have a-type f 5 for engaging the platen in that position. \Vhen it isdesired to print a 5 in the tens column the lever l in the tens column is operated and the circuit is closed through the printing magnet N0. 5, the battery B, and the resistance R. The'resistance R is provided since the current which is used is of suflicient strength to operate one of the printing magnets, one of the shifting magnets 41 or 42, and the impression magnets 13 2, simultaneously, and since in the instance of the tens impression these last-named magnets are not used, theentir-e current will otherwise be confined to the printing magnet print in the tens columnj When it is desired to print a- 5 in 'the units column the switch Z ofthe units column is operated and the circuit is closed through theimpression magand the printing magnet No. 5. The energization of the electromagnet 42 brings the platen 38 over into the units position, as has been described, and the energization of the printing magnet No. 5 causes the actuation of the associated type bar which has a. type for the platenin that position. The ener-. gization of the impression magnets 132 causes the printing of the time of day, and the in or out indication. This actuation also results in the advance of the paper strip. The entrance plate is also provided with a switch marked In and a switch marked Out and these switches control the circuits through the electromagnets 91 and 91, respectively. It will appear that it is not always necessary to operate these switches. If a person desiring to make a registration finds that the in and out wheel is already in the proper position he need pay no attention to these switches and may proceed at once to record his number. In order that such a person may be advised of the position of the in and out wheel I provide such as diagrannnatically shown in the fig; are under consideration. The disk (I piv oted at e is provided at different points near its periphery with the indications! Out and In. This disk is disposed behind the bar f which has a window (1 through which either one of'the notations referred to may be exposed. This disk (l is adapted to be operated in unison with the in and out wheel by means of the magnets m and a. The electromagnet n is in series with the electromagnet 91 and with the out button and the battery, and it is clear that when this button is depressed both elcctromagnets will be energized and, unless the wheel and the disk are already in that position, the out characters will be brought into the printing line and the out indication will be made at the entrance plate. The analogous operation takes place in the case of the magnets in and 91" which are similarly related and controlled.

The master clock is indicated at C and the insulating cam is adapted to make one revolution per minute. period is immaterial. The cam (r operates to make intermittent engagement between the contact springs x and s and the circuit which these springs control includes the local battery T and a time printing magnet 118 which operates the time printing mechanism. A condenser may be connected across the springs sand a to cutdown the sparking. A secondary clock I may also be controlled by contacts and s and may be disposed upon the'entrance plate.

I havc'deemed it wise to describe the operationof the various parts of my machine and system as the description of the an indicator on the entrance plate A change in this necessar therefore to append a detailed summarization of the operation. Sullice it to say that when a person, to whom the number 374, for instanceais assigned, desires to make an entry, he approaches the entrance plate and looks to see if the in and out indication is proper. If it is not he presses either the 'in or out button to make it so. He then presses and releases the fourth button from the top in the hundreds column and the figure 3 is printed on the record sheet. He then presses and releases the eighth button from the top in the tens column and the figure 7 is printed on the record, after the figure 3. He then presses the fifth button from the top in the units column and the figure 4 is printed on the record, after the figure 7. At the same time the movable platen comes down and prints the date and the time as indicated by the register wheels, this time being the same as indicated by the master clock and the secondary clock. Upon releasing this last button the inking ribbon is advanced and the paper is also advanced. If, by mistake, the person presses the fourth button from the top in the units, column in stead of the fifth button from the top, he, upon discovering the mistake, immediatel presses the mistake button, andthe record 1s,

canceled. He then proceeds to make an entirely new registration. The record is as follows:

374 IN JAN5 843 AM 1911 I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 7

1. Ina recording device, in combination, an actuating type bar carrying a plurality of printing characters, a platen of substantially the same width as one of said characters, and means for shifting said platen.

2. In a recordin device, a type baroperating in a single pane, a plurality of printing characters on said of substantially the same width as one of said characters, and means for shifting said platen.

3. In a recording device, in combination, an actuating type bar operating in a single plane, a plurality of type characters disposed side by side on said type bar, a platen ype p ten.-

of substantially the same width as one of v plane, three type characters mounted side by side at the end of said type bar, a platen with which said type bar cooperates, said platen being of substantially the same width as each of said characters, the normal position of said platen being in alinement with structure went along and I consider it un- 1 the middle type character, and electroniagnet, a pivoted armature for said electromagne't, a type bar pivoted independently of said armature, means carried by said armature for engaging said type bar to strike it a. hammer blow when the electromagnet is energized, and a platen for coiiperat-ion with said type bar.

6. In a recording device, in combination, an electroinagnet, an armature for said -electroniagnet piv: ed upon a spin-die, a type her independently mounted upon said meanson armature for engagtype bar to give it a h n'ner blow lect-roinagnct is or gized, and a platen for in. ration witn a d type bar.

'2'. In a recording device, an electromagnet With a. vertical core, a vertical standard of ma 'netic ma ,rial mounted adjacent said ele omagnet, 11d standard and the core of selectri'imagoet being connected together the lower end, an armature pivoted upon aspindle at the top of said standard, said armature being adapted to close the magnetic circuit with the core, a type bar mounted upon said spindle, and a tail on said armature for engagement with said type bar to give it a hammer blow when the electroinagnct is energized, and a platen for cooperation with said type bar.

8. In a recording device, in combination, a standard, atype bar mounted. upon a spindle in said standard to operate in a single plane, an electroniagnet mounted next to said standard, an armature for said electromagnet mounted upon said spindle, means on said armature for engaging said type bar to give it a hammer blow when said eiectrornagnet is energized, a plurality of characters on said type bar, and platen for cooperation with said characters, and means for shifting said platen to confine it to alinementwith any one of characters.

9. In a recording device, an eiectromagnet, a pivoted armature for said electromagnet, a type bar pivoted independently to said armature, a plurality of printing characters on said type bar, mechanism secured to said armature for engaging said type bar to strike it a sharp blow when the electro-v magnet is energized, and a platen for 'coiiperat-ion with said ty e bar.

10. In a recording device, :snagnet, a pivoted armature for said electromagnet, a type bar pivoted independently of said armature, a plurality of printing characters on said type bar, mechanism secured to said armature for engagingsaid type bar to strike it a sharp-blow when the electromagnet is energized, a platen for cooperation with said type bar, and devices for shifting said platen.

11,. In a recording device, the combina--- tion of a type bar operating in a single plane, a plurality of printing characters on said type bar, a platenof substantially the same Width as one of saidcharacters, and mechanism for-moving said plat-en so thatit may occupy any one of a plurality of posi tions.

In a recording device, the combination of type bar operating in a single plane,a plurality of printing characters on said type bar, a platen ofsuhstantially the same width as one of 'said characters, and mechanism for moving said platen so that it may be held in any one of three positions.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 5th day of May, A. 1)., 1911.

ALFRED L. SOHM.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR -H. BOETICHER, ALBERT G. MCCOBB.

an electro' 

